


Turtle Dove

by Theonewhosawitall



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: British Slang, Cockney Rhyming Slang, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, soft Juliet Higgins, terms of endearment, this wrote itself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29573448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: Rick comes over to hang out with Juliet after work.
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Orville Wilbur Richard "Rick" Wright
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Turtle Dove

**Author's Note:**

> This basically wrote itself in 25 minutes at 3 am so lower your expectations

Juliet was sitting on the sofa reading a book when she heard the door open. As usual, the dog tags jingled. Then their paws went scampering across the floor and they happily whimpered for attention. Juliet smirked to herself. She knew _exactly_ who had just walked in through the door.

Juliet pretended to continue reading her book, twisting a glass of whiskey in her free hand, with her legs across the empty sofa beside her. She listened keenly to the whispering as he waded through the dogs. He was trying to keep them quiet. To be sneaky. He was failing, but the lads obediently scampered back to their beds.

As he crept up to her from behind, she waited. He crouched as he went. She could see his reflection in the laptop screen on the desk. When he was close enough she smiled to herself.

"Hello Rick."

Rick's shoulders slumped and his hands fell to his slides with a clap. She snickered as she lowered the book and raised her head to look at him.

"How'd you know I was there?"

"Because you are no where near as sneaky as you think you are!"

"I'm pretty sneaky. In the sandbox no one ever saw me coming."

Juliet had a quip about Hannah seeing all of them coming and letting the Taliban know so they also saw them coming, but she pursed her lips to keep it in. Sometimes, she had learned, it was better to keep your mouth shut than to win an argument.

"I'm sure you were sweetie."

"Ooh, sweetie," Rick chuckled. He dropped down onto the sofa beside her and snuggled in to rest his head on her lap. "That's a new one."

"Yes well I admit I'm still finding my feet with terms of endearment. They don't always come naturally."

She brushed her fingers gently through his hair as she spoke. He folded his arms and let his eyes close. There was something so soothing about her playing with his hair like that, especially after a long day like this one.

"I always liked chickadee. It's got that kind of bounce to it, y’know?" Rick said, thoughtfully.

"It sounds a little too much like chickpea for my taste. Or would you prefer I call you hummus?" Juliet chuckled.

"I could be hummus. That's that classy guacamole right?" He tilted his head against her hip to mask his grin.

"Oh God! You work in the restaurant industry Rick, how can you not know the difference between guacamole and hummus!" Juliet cried.

"I'm kidding! Obviously I know the difference. One's green and one's beige," he laughed.

"Y’know sometimes when I listen to you talk I despair for TC. The poor man couldn’t have picked a worse partner," Juliet chuckled.

"Oh I think he could. Which reminds me, how was your case? Did Tommy catch the guy?"

Rick's bright blue eyes opened enough for him to arch an eyebrow at her. She fought the urge to smile. Once again, he as a subtle as a rock through a stain glass window.

"Actually no, he was distracted by the woman flirting with him and he failed to notice the gun in her back pocket until it was against his head. Fortunately I did,"

"Wow. You make such a great team," Rick said sarcastically as he grinned.

She rolled her eyes, "Alright I take your point."

"Point? I wasn't making a point, I was simply point out that-"

Juliet reached out to put the whiskey down on the coffee table as she leaned down to reach his mouth. Rick's eyes flickered open again in surprise. Even upside down she took his breath away when she kissed him. Especially upside down. Her hand cupped his cheek softly and then she pulled away. He smiled that soft, delighted little smile that he always saved for when she kissed him. It made her heart throb.

"That was nice."

"You need a shave."

Rick sneered, "Uh, I'll have you know that the scruff is in fashion this season. Gives me that rugged sailor look."

"That rugged navy SEAL who got badly beaten by a swing ball look," she teased.

She felt his shoulders sag against her thighs. "Of all the deeply impressive missions stories I've told you, _that’s_ the one you remember?"

"I remember many babe. That's just my favourite," she said.

Rick tilted his head again, rolling his cheek closer against the palm of her hand to kiss it. That slightly muffled his voice as he muttered, "I like babe."

"You would, it's vulgarly American," Juliet scoffed.

She felt his quiet chuckle vibrate through her fingertips as he closed his eyes again. "What's that uh, that cockney rhyming slang I hear so much about? What's that got?"

"I dunno, I'm not a cockney!" She scoffed, "I'm from Paddington!"

"Okay, I want you to be deeply impressed by my vast knowledge of somewhere I've never been so I’m gonna nod like I'm not thinking of a Peruvian bear right now," Rick explained.

He then gave a very solemn nod as if he understood exactly what she was talking about and that it cleared up everything. She chuckled back. He was lucky he was cute and could get away with being such a tit.

"Paddington is in north London and cockneys come from within hearing rang of the bow bell in the east end. They're no where near each other," she explained.

"Gotcha," he nodded, with genuine understanding this time. "So you don’t know any slang?"

"Oh I didn’t say that. I know plenty of slang, enough to get by," she shrugged.

"Tell me some."

"It's just rhyming words Rick, it's very rudimentary."

His eyes flicked open again. "Please tell me?"

"Okay um..." Juliet licked her lips as she tried to think of something that wasn't blindingly obvious, but also wasn't too difficult to guess. "Apples and pears. That's stairs. China plate is mate. Dog and bone, phone-"

"So you only rhyme the second word of the thing?" He asked, waving his hand as if that made it clearer.

"Yes. Usually you rhyme the second word but only say the first so that any coppers eavesdropping wont catch on," she explained.

"Like a code?"

"Exactly."

"Cool. Gimme one, I bet I can guess it," he grinned.

Juliet smiled. She had no doubt that if, for some reason, Rick found himself in a pub down in the east end, or God forbid, Croydon, he would find himself some friends and very quickly learn more slang than she knew. For now though, she liked that he was still trying to learn and impress her.

"Butcher's hook?" She offered.

"Cook?" He guessed.

"Look," she corrected.

"Hmm. What else?" He asked.

"Uh, boat race?"

"Boat race? What rhymes with race? Face?"

Juliet lit up and beamed, "Yes, exactly right!"

"Really?!" Rick gave a cocky laugh and eagerly cried, "Gimme another!"

"Trouble and strife?"

"Life?"

"Wife."

"Damn, so close!"

Rick thumped the air in mock frustration and Juliet chuckled affectionately.

"Yes you were my little turtle dove," she cooed.

She leaned down to kiss him again. She could feel his smile through her lips and it made her ears pink. Fortunately she had long enough hair to hide that. His hand moved up to cup her cheek, but from the angle he was lying in all he could reach was her chin. She chuckled warmly as she broke away. There again was that gorgeous smile.

"Turtle dove?" He repeated.

The pink tint of her ears moved to her cheeks. "Huh?"

"What's turtle dove mean?" He asked.

Juliet swallowed. "Um... it means love."

Rick's eyes widened. She definitely hadn’t called him that before either. He grinned.

"That's awesome! Like a little turtle," he said.

"Actually a turtle dove is more like a spotted pigeon," she said.

His smile faded but his eyes were still shining, "Oh."

"Sorry to disappoint you babe," she chuckled.

His hand raised up to run a crooked finger along her cheek. "You're never disappointing. _Babe."_

The trail left behind by his finger was nice and rosy before his hand landed on his chest again.

"You vulgar American," she teased.

His eyes sparkled back mischievously, "Sorry. _Love."_

Juliet's cheeks flushed scarlet. When Rick started laughing, she grabbed the couch cushion and pretended to smother him. His leg flew into the air and he pushed her off. She let him, but she warned him that she was still a fully trained agent and she knew a dozen ways to break his arm. Her cheeks were still red as she did.

Rick just grinned back like a love stuck goon.


End file.
